Nodding and Smiling at Me, All While Ignoring Me

Back in March, I wrote to my senators about a bill I was not pleased about. Actually, I wrote to my representative, too, because I was unhappy that he’d voted in favor of it. Today, I got responses, both of which prove that neither of them read my letter. If they did, they certainly don’t care about what I said. Here are the responses.

Thank you forsharing with me your concerns regardinglegislation to tax the bonuses paid by financial institutions receiving financial assistance from the government. I appreciate your taking the time tocontact me.

Last Fall, the insurance company AIG began receiving government financial assistance under anemergency agreement reached with the Treasury Department and the Federal ReserveafterAIG sustained overwhelming financial losses due to the ongoing economiccrisis. The federal assistance was provided in light of widespread agreement thatthe failure of this key insurance institutionwould cause a broad financial market collapse. In response the recent reports that AIG was using taxpayer funding to pay retention bonuses to executives, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 1586, legislation designed to recoup these bonuses and prevent in the future the use of federal emergency assistance funding to pay excessive executive compensation and bonuses. The legislation would tax at 90% the bonuses paid by companies receiving more than $5 billion in public funding under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). This measure has now moved to the Senate for consideration. You can be assured that I will keep your views in mind as the House of Representatives considers further measures to address the ongoing economic emergency.

Thank you again for contacting me. I remain with kind regards and best wishes

Sincerely,

Rick Boucher

Member of Congress

RB/rc

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May 19, 2009

Ms. Christine [the Soccer Mom]

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XXXXXXXXXXX, Virginia #####-####

Dear Ms. [Soccer Mom]:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding federal assistance to the financial sector and AIG. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

Since the onset of financial crisis and the recession, I have worked to promote economic stability and recovery, while simultaneously protecting taxpayer dollars.For example, I worked to ensure that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which has helped address the banking crisis, contained limits on executive compensation and important transparency provisions.

I believe that AIG, the recipient of billions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury, breached the public trust by paying excessive bonuses under existing contracts and making full payments to counterparties holding AIG’s financial instruments. Given the significant sums of taxpayer money involved and the continuing instability in the financial sector and the overall economy, Congress has an ongoing duty to conduct strict oversight of the financial sector, especially in light of AIG’s recent actions.

As the U.S. Senate debates matters pertaining to the financial sector and the ongoing economic crisis, please be assured that your specific views are helpful to me and my staff.I hope you continue to share your thoughts with us in the years ahead.

I would also invite you to visit my website at www.webb.senate.gov for regular updates about my activities and positions on matters that are important to Virginia and our nation.

Thank you once again for contacting my office.

Sincerely,

Jim Webb

United States Senator

JW:cw

Please do not reply. This is not a working email address.

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It’s very difficult to resist telling my kids that I don’t have representation in Washington, D.C., since neither of my senators share many views with me. And, as you can see, neither does my representative. Add to that President Obama, being all socialist/Marxist/fascist, and you can see why I’m not blogging much about politics lately. It’s all too depressing sometimes.